Sen. Brice Wiggins

Maddy summarySB 2605 would require all Mississippi public and charter schools to teach standalone civics courses starting in 8th grade and before students graduate high school, beginning in the 2026-2027 school year. The courses must cover U.S. and Mississippi history, government structure (including federalism and the Constitution), civic skills like source analysis, and nonpartisan civic engagement, using historical and current examples. The Mississippi State Department of Education would develop the curriculum standards and update them to reflect current civics scholarship. Note: This bill died in committee on March 4, 2025, and did not become law.

Maddy summarySB 2201 clarifies that Mississippi's traffic law definition of "automated recording equipment or system" includes devices operated manually by law enforcement officers, not just fully automated systems. This change would have affected county and municipal governments that use or plan to use traffic enforcement technology to record license plates for violations like speeding or red-light running. The bill amended Section 17-25-19 to explicitly include manually operated devices under the existing ban on local use of such equipment for traffic enforcement. The bill died in committee on March 4, 2025, and never became law.

Maddy summarySB 2769 creates Youth Court Chancellor Divisions within 19 specific chancery court districts across Mississippi, establishing separate "youth court chancellor" positions in each. It assigns all youth court cases (except those handled by existing County Youth Courts under Section 43-21-107) to these new divisions, replacing the previous system of Youth Court Referees. The bill creates a dedicated Chancery Youth Court Division Fund in the state treasury to finance the new structure and requires the Administrative Office of Courts to use case management systems like MYCIDS. This act formally repeals the existing authority for regular and special Youth Court Referees while directing counties without their own youth courts to utilize the new chancery court divisions.

Maddy summarySB 2480 would have restricted who can serve as Youth Court Intake Officers in Mississippi, requiring only employees of the Administrative Office of Courts (AOC) to handle these duties. It would have barred all other state agency staff - such as those from the Department of Human Services or Child Protection Services - from performing intake functions like entering case data into the state's youth court information system (MYCIDS). The bill also mandated annual training for intake officers and included a sunset provision requiring the law to expire on July 1, 2026. However, this bill died in committee on March 4, 2025, and never became law.

Maddy summarySB 2453 is a procedural bill that compiles existing Mississippi youth court statutes into a single, organized section for potential future amendments. It gathers multiple sections of the Mississippi Code related to youth court organization, jurisdiction, procedures, and related court structures (like chancery and county courts) without creating new policies or changing current law. The bill did not establish a new system but prepared existing youth court provisions for possible revision. It died in committee on March 4, 2025, and was never enacted.

Maddy summaryThe Mississippi Comprehensive Coastal Conservation and Restoration Act of 2025 establishes a Technical Advisory Board (TAB) to create and update a comprehensive plan for coastal projects on Mississippi's Gulf Coast, including restoration, storm protection, habitat construction, and water quality improvements. The TAB, composed of state agency representatives, university officials, environmental groups, and legislative members, must develop the plan within one year and revise it every five years to set project priorities and monitoring requirements. All future coastal projects managed by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and Department of Environmental Quality must align with this plan, and the TAB must submit annual progress reports. The bill aims to coordinate state efforts, streamline project selection, and ensure long-term planning for coastal resilience.

Maddy summarySB 2850 requires cigarette and vape (ENDS) manufacturers in Mississippi to submit annual certifications to the Commissioner of Revenue by September 1, 2025, for vapes, leading to a public directory of approved products starting October 1, 2025. Retailers must stop selling vape products not listed in the directory after that date, with a 60-day grace period to clear existing inventory. Sellers of non-compliant products face daily fines up to $1,500 per product, and the bill mandates unannounced compliance checks by the Department of Revenue. Manufacturers must also maintain a registered agent in Mississippi for legal service.

Maddy summarySR 65 is a ceremonial resolution passed by the Mississippi Senate to honor Hinds County Deputy Sheriff Martin Shields, Jr., who died in the line of duty on February 23, 2025. The resolution extends the Senate's "sincerest sympathy" to his surviving family - including his wife, daughter, and parents - and commends his law enforcement career. It has no policy provisions or financial impact; it is purely symbolic, expressing condolences and acknowledging his service. The Senate formally adopted the resolution on February 27, 2025, and will present it to his family and the Hinds County Sheriff's Office.

Maddy summarySB 3073 would have allocated $1.6 million from Mississippi’s General Fund for the fiscal year 2026 to support CASA of Mississippi’s Capacity Growth Program. This funding would directly help local CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) groups serving abused and neglected children in court cases by covering program costs and enabling grants to expand their services. The bill required the Administrative Office of Courts to administer the grant program in partnership with CASA of Mississippi. However, the bill died in committee on February 26, 2025, and did not become law.

Maddy summarySB 3069 appropriates $300,000 from Mississippi's General Fund for the fiscal year 2026 to support Excel by 5 of Mississippi, a nonprofit organization focused on early childhood education. The funds cover costs for its birth-to-five early education programs and assessments of early learning collaboratives across the state. This is a straightforward funding bill with no policy changes, solely providing financial support for existing early childhood initiatives. The bill died in committee on February 26, 2025, and was never enacted.